Ottawa University Showcased at BbWorld Summit

8/12/2013

In July, nearly 3,000 members of the global education technology community from more than 30 countries met at the BbWorld 2013 summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they shared ideas and engaged in a rich program focused on the future of teaching and learning with technology. As part of the program, Blackboard Inc. executives Katie Blot, Ray Henderson and Jay Bhatt made a presentation which, in part, showcased the work being done with Ottawa University to disintegrate the often artificial barriers between online and on-ground educational delivery methodologies. Click here to view the BbWorld keynote.

“Earlier this year, Blackboard entered into a relationship with Ottawa to help them with many capabilities along their online mosaic, providing marketing, enrollment management, program management, as well as a world-class set of technologies,” said Blot. “Together we’re designing a new and highly engaging, flexible learning model that they’re going to bring to bear. Ottawa University has set their sights on completely breaking down the walls between online and traditional learners, and we’re going to help them bring this vision to life.”

Shane Smeed, who is vice president and chief operating officer for Ottawa University’s adult, professional and online studies, also made a presentation at the summit entitled “Fast Tracking Growth Through Online Program Management.”

“In the rapidly changing global marketplace, Ottawa University is striving to be an innovative and technology-enabled institution, known for its commitment to deliver academic programs of exceptional quality to students in our backyard and around the world,” said Smeed. The agreement between Blackboard and Ottawa University is designed to help achieve those goals by accelerating the delivery of new capabilities, integrating Bb’s portfolio of products to create more unified solutions and taking innovative approaches with technology. At the same time, Ottawa University maintains control over its student learning experience while creating a pathway to independence for building the capabilities in-house that it needs rather than staying locked into long-term outsourcing.

“We are so proud to be a part of the Ottawa story because this is exactly what we want to do – complement our client’s capabilities with our own capabilities to help make a difference in students’ lives,” said Blot.